


The Last Memory

by imdex



Category: Elder Scrolls, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: (Imdex can admit that she is a loser though so), Aldmeri Dominion, Childhood Memories, Determination, Gen, In Which Not-Loser Imdex Rips Out SoftlyTea's Heart And Smashes It Into A Thousand Pieces, Memories, Minor Character Death, Minor Character(s), Minor Violence, Sad Ending, Sad life, Shame, Skyrim Main Quest, Thalmor, Thalmor Justiciar - Freeform, The Struggle of a Child in The Aldmeri Dominion, While SoftlyTea Loves Every Second Of It (If A Little Tearfully), enjoy :), life - Freeform, written on a whim
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-12
Updated: 2017-05-12
Packaged: 2018-10-31 03:26:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 865
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10890717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imdex/pseuds/imdex
Summary: In which a proud Dominion agent is forced to face the hard truth that had followed him all along.





	The Last Memory

**Author's Note:**

> *shrugs*  
> I wrote this a while back to jab SoftlyTea right in her feels via Facebook. I figured I should post it up here for some variety. 
> 
> The Thalmor hurt my feelings too.
> 
> Hugely inspired by the song HEROES by Zayde Wolf.

He remembered the very first memory he had of his father clad in his polished black and gilded gold Justiciar uniform. He remembered the rallies, the electric in the air from the sheer adoration and hope the citizens of Alinor gave the marching Thalmor troops, as they departed to conquer the weak and further aid the noble Aldmeri race. He remembered how hard he had worked in school and how easily flames came to life in the palms of his hands where his name sake often landed him in repeat courses and so many disciplinary lashings that he had forever lost count. 

He remembered the day in his adolescence all those centuries ago meeting his best friend. He remembered how much trouble they'd get themselves into all in the name of bets and dares. He remembered his first fight in the forest outside the Primary. How Lorcalin had bested him with one well aimed punch to his face and how stunned he had been that he had fallen. He remembered, later, getting revenge and watching with an amused smile as the stammering classmate had been hauled away to the High Master's office to receive punishment for a theft that he didn't commit. 

He remembered the duels that would prove to be their final test to see if they were worthy of proceeding to the Academy. If they were worthy to wear the black and gold that showed all the others that they were heroes and that they would forever stand vigilant and ready to defend the rightful citizens of Nirn. He had practiced alone within the forest every day until long after dark, working hard to ace the shock spells that had been forever drilled into his memory by all those lashes given to him throughout his childhood and even then into near adulthood. 

He remembered the moment the bushes nearby shook and how he had turned with a spell ready only to see a boy rather than a threat. He remembered how his little amber eyes were wide with awe as he stumbled forward and had told him that he had heard fighting and wanted to see. He remembered the feeling he felt as that child looked up at him with that look of adoration. 

The feeling of pride. The feeling of completion. 

The feeling of a _hero._

He had taught that boy a spell that day and had listened as he told him of the classmates that picked on him because he couldn't always get his spells right. 

'Practice,' he had said with an arrogant smirk as he wrapped a large hand around a little bony shoulder, 'you will prove them all wrong.' 

He remembered being pared against the one that would one day become his mentor. How violently his magicka had burst from his palms. How agile and deadly he had been with a blade in close contact. He remembered how hard he fought back against such mastered technique and how silent the room had been the moment he fell. The way the black and gold boots had paused so close to his bleary eyes that he could pick out fine bits of gravel marring their otherwise flawless appearance made him forever remember that…maybe…he was nothing after all. 

He had failed that day where the others had succeeded. 

He remembered now, as he smiled at the challenger before him, the way he was ignored, taunted, and bullied once he gained entry the next season. He remembered, as he sent his electric for her, how hard he had to work to prove that he was worthy to be kept. He would forever remember the decades spent training, studying, eating, sleeping, breathing their code. The smell of the uniform he had worked so tirelessly for as he pulled it on the first time. He remembered the flutter in his chest as he walked along side the others toward the ship. The cheers of those around him, the very crowd he had been apart of so many times in the past, but then he was only a child dreaming of being one of them. 

He scanned the crowd and blinked at the boy waving excitedly at him. He had grown, the beginning stages of adolescence making its appearance by his awkward physique, but the awe remained in his eyes, amplified by how impressive the agent looked in the clothing of the Aldmeri Dominion. 

'Good luck!' the little one had chanted as he had walked by. 

He remembered the smile and the 'You too' he had said to the awestruck boy as he boarded the vessel. 

He remembered his purpose. 

But…this…this wasn't it. 

He was supposed to be a hero. Heroes…they didn't fall. Especially not to enemies so easily disposable. He didn't remember ever planning for this. He didn't remember where he was. He didn't remember who he was…but he did remember, as he bled out, the feeling he felt that day at Ancano's feet. Estormo remembered the title given to him at the end of that deciding test, what he had been all along, as he muttered it out through the gurgle of blood in his throat. 

'F-F…Failure.'


End file.
